Hockey fans in the Philadelphia area have had strong feelings about William “Cutter” Gauthier since the Flyers selected him with the fifth pick in the 2022 NHL Draft. Those feelings went from excitement to disdain after the Flyers traded Gauthier to Anaheim and the organization made it known that the top prospect didn’t want to play in Philadelphia.
Gauthier is now with the Ducks in the NHL for his rookie season after getting one game at the end of last year. He has had a so-so start to his NHL career with four goals and 10 assists for 14 points in 33 games this season. That would rank 10th on the Flyers behind Travis Konecny, Matvei Michkov, Owen Tippett, Travis Sanheim, Sean Couturier, Scott Laughton, Tyson Foerster, Morgan Frost, and Bobby Brink.
Flyers fans are amped up for Gauthier’s first game in Philadelphia scheduled for Saturday, January 11th, and the player is looking forward to the game as well.
The former Flyers prospect apparently has had this Saturday’s game against Philadelphia on his mind as well. He’s had his first matchup against his former team circled on the calendar, which makes sense, but John Tortorella could not care less.
“I don’t give a shit what he says. I’m not interested in answering any questions about Cutter Gauthier,” Tortorella said via Kevin Kurz. “I don’t wish anything bad on the kid, I’m not going to answer any questions on it.”
While the pull quote that Tortorella led with may sound harsh, he did at least soften the blow a bit. It’s not that he has ill will towards Gauthier, he’s just another one of the hundreds of players in the NHL.
Tortorella could’ve given a cliche answer about a player being excited to play his former team or acknowledged the situation at all, but he went in the complete opposite direction. It’s not exactly surprising given how Tortorella tries to control the narrative with the focus being on the inside of the Flyers locker room, not anywhere else.
Of course, the Flyers head coach said that he doesn’t know Gauthier from a hole in the wall after the trade went down in January. That hole in the wall will be suiting up for his first game against the Flyers on Saturday afternoon and his first one in Philadelphia in just a few weeks.
